Os de domn Vlad Dracula
by denverhockeygirl
Summary: Death Eaters are being sighted in western Romania, forcing Charlie Weasley to follow them into Transylvania, unearthing a lost relic, a medieval secret society and the fight between good and evil. [incomplete]
1. Prizaka and Tzuica

**Os de domn Vlad Dracula**

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**Author's Note: **I began this story two years ago and only wrote an introduction. I was recently reintroduced into the Harry Potter realm and decided to continue it. It places Charlie Weasley (a favourite of mine) as the central character and is set during _The Order of the Phoenix_, so Harry's 5th year when the Ministry is still a mess. Sorry it's fairly short, from here on out chapters will be longer and more elaborate.

**Disclaimer: **The entire series belongs to J.K. Rowling. I've taken some creative liberties with the original characters and the Romanian magical community.

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**Chapter One: **Prizaka and Tzuica

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"Bun diamineata _1_ Charlie," a chipper brunette greeted as his housemate stumbled into the small kitchen.

"Bun diamineata Nicu," the disgruntled red head replied flopping down onto a stool. The other man handed him a mug of hot coffee. 

"Ce mai faco _2_?" he grinned adjusting the brim of his wide red hat. 

"Bun _3_... Nice colour." 

"Is it not? It is from the last St. Anne's celebration." 

"I see," Charlie chucked. "Where's Taifur?" 

"He's out training the new Hungarian Horntail male. I gave him bread for his pockets, that new one reeks of bibaxt _4_." 

"Nicu, why do you believe in all that Muggle gypsy lore?" he asked as he took a sip from the mug. 

"Have I not explained it too you? Us Romanian wizards are all of Roma decent. My bunica _5_ was a great drabardi." 

"Her last name Trewlany by any chance?" he snickered remembering the Hogwarts Divination professor.

"No? Why do you ask?"

"Ah never mind Nicu, never mind," Charlie chuckled to himself.

"You're an odd one Charles. Anyway, this morning, some mail came for you," the dark skinned wizard told him shuffling through a pile of papers and handing Charlie a folded newspaper and roll of parchment. "A crazy owl brought it, went in circles and circles. It had prizaka _6_ I say." 

"Everything has prizaka to you mate," he smiled light heartedly taking the mail from his friend's hand. He'd been living in the small cabin for five years now. As soon as he had graduated from Hogwarts he had traveled to the Black Forest, just outside the German town of Stuttgart to train to be a dragon tamer. The _Dragon Research and Restraint Bureau_ of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures had a number of cabins set up across the world in areas with a notoriously high dragon population. Each cabin had a specific mission, and housed anywhere from 4 to 15 dragon tamers from magical communities worldwide. The intense course lasted a year, and then Charlie had been placed outside Vicovu de Jos in one of the most difficult regions. It was a small town in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, on the Hungarian border. 

Vicovu de Jos was, second to Bucharest, the most magically active city in Romania. It lacked the modern wizarding community like the capitol but was rich in ancient Roma (Gypsy) magic, home of drabegnis (female healers), drabardis (fortune tellers), and the sastarimaskodrabaro (healing herb) trade. It was also bustling with Vampires and werewolves from the neighbouring Transylvania region.

It was quite the position really, for such a novice. Only four tamers were chosen for the slot and it was renown as one of the most difficult. The Horntail population in the Suceava region had been out of control. As Muggles became more mobile in the county, sighting became more frequent, as the aggressive Horntails habitats became increasingly invaded. And as always, dwindling numbers of the dangerous species made them an endangered dangerous species. 

Nicu was the head trainer in the cabin, an eccentric Romanian warlock only a few years older than Charlie. He was from a rural village on the Serbian border and with his father, uncle and brothers, spent most of his youth with dragons. In addition to being amazing with the beasts, he was, in traditional Romanian fashion, incredibly superstitious.

Also in the house were Taifur, an older warlock from Pakistan. He was deeply involved in Sufism, a mystic Middle Eastern tradition that pre-dated the Muggle religion that had attempted to infiltrate it. His immersion in prophesies and meditation made him mysterious and soft spoken, but a focused, thorough dragon tamer.

In addition to the three men there was also Brigette, a good-natured French-Canadian witch who Charlie was quite found of. She'd completed her studies at Beauxbatons slightly after he had, and chose to enter into the Ministry training program rather that returning to her family who lived in the magical region of Quebec City. Brigette never went into many details of what her family did, but from what Charlie managed to gather, it had something to do with the infamous magical circus that came from the area.

The four got along quite well despite the differences in their backgrounds. In the five years Charlie had lived there he had picked up basic Romanian and even some Arabic and French.

He first opened the newspaper, which he immediately recognized as the Daily Prophet. Without even glancing at the headline he threw it into the fireplace where it exploded with purple sparks. He was sick of reading the hogwash in the British paper, Fudge had gone absolutely mad and carried most of the Ministry with him. None of the frequent  
letters from home outright mentioned this position, but his father had filled him in when he was last home in England. It was far too risky for them to express their opinions in writing, owls were easily intercepted. Instead his parents and the rest of the Order felt the need to keep him in touch with the British magical community with the Daily Prophet, assuming he'd be able to see through the lies.

He then opened the parchment and began reading his mother's familiar script.

_"Happy Birthday Charlie dear!"_

"Oh Merlin," he groaned aloud.

"What? Bad news from home?" Nicu looked up from the 'Vrajitor Cuvertura Matlasata' (The Wizard's Quill, the daily paper of the Romanian magical community) he was engrossed in. 

"Not really. Today's just my birthday, I completely forgot." 

"Why yes it is, 24!" the other man perked up at the news. "How perfect, Brigette, Taifur and I will take you into town tonight, to celebrate!" 

"There's no need to Nicu, don't want to waste time celebrati-" he began to say but was cut off by his friend. 

"Nonsense. We will go to the Tiganca Femie. I believe there's some tzuica _7_ in order." 

"Tzuica you say?" Charlie perked up. "I guess we can go for a bit... not long though." 

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Romanian to English translations

1 'Good morning'

2 'How are you?'

3 Good

4 bad luck

5 grandmother

6 mental illness

7 plum brandy, a traditional Romanian drink

**Notes:**

Sufism- a mystic tradition of Islam encompassing a diverse range of beliefs and practices dedicated to divine love and sometimes to help a fellow man. It has been suggested that Sufi thought emerged from the Middle East in the eighth century, but adherents are now found around the world. Some Sufis have also claimed that Sufism pre-dates Islam and some groups operate with only very tenuous links to Islam.

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	2. Intuneric Drum

**Os de domn Vlad Dracula**

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**Author's Note: **I apologize that those endnotes I used in the previous chapter for the Romanian-English translations didn't come out at well. This is one of the first Harry Potter stories I've written in years and one of the only stories that's more plot centric than character centric that I've ever written, so it may take me a few chapters to find a rhythm.

Just for some quick background, the title, Os de domn Vlad Dracula is derived from the Romanian phrase _os de domn _(of voivode princely bones) and _Vlad Dracula_ (Vlad III **"**the Impaler", a prince of Wallachia in the 1400s, a former polity which is now part of Romania.) Vlad III was notorious for his inhumane and horrific punishments, which earned him the title of 'the Impaler' and later influenced the vampire character in the infamous novel Dracula. Just something to keep in mind as the plot progresses, it will become important later on.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone.

**Disclaimer: **The entire series belongs to J.K. Rowling. I've taken some creative liberties with the original characters and the Romanian magical community.

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**Chapter Two: Intuneric Drum**

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"Happy birthday Charlie!" a smiling, slightly mousy looking witch squealed as she managed to squeeze through two rather large warlocks to the table at the back of the dim, crowded bar. The Tiganca Femie was a favourite spot of the cabin-mates. It wasn't the most popular bar in Vicovu de Jos but was by far the most interesting. It was run by an elderly Roma woman and was always full of quaint fortune tellers and drunken games. That and the drinks were always cheap.

"Brigette," he grinned back, his face already drunkenly engulfed by a red colour that almost matched his moppy hair. Quickly he stood up on unsteady feet to embrace the girl, sloppily crushing her face into his chest.

"Glad to see you have all started already," she noted the half empty bottle of brandy on the table, finally pulling away from an overly affectionate Charlie. Taifur gave her his ever enigmatic acknowledging nod and she exchanged two swift, traditional pecks on the cheek with Nicu.

"Don't worry there, we have plenty more," Nicu smirked sloppily as he pulled out another bottle of tzuica and placed it on the table. "Another round?"

"Of course mate," Charlie eagerly nodded his head I agreement and Nicu poured four more glasses of plum brandy and passed them around the table. He raised his glass and cleared his throat,

"To Charlie," he cheered as Brigette and Taifur joined in. Charlie smiled wildly and took a long swig from his glass. At first he'd been tentative to leave Britain alone, having grown up surrounded by the rowdy Weasley clan. However his cabin mates provided the perfect transition, Nicu had the guidance of his mother but the charm and wit of his eldest brother. Taifur, the quietest reminded him of Percy but unlike his younger brother had modesty that more closely resembled his father. Brigette was young and despite her caring nature had a small fiery streak much like Ginny.

"Sorry I'm late," the young witch sighed taking a seat in between Charlie and Nicu. "I was trying to give Erzsébet that new potion Taifur made up, but Ilko wasn't letting me in a twenty meter radius of the poor thing," she rolled her eyes, referencing the youngest Horntail on the complex and her extremely protective mother. Horntails were notorious for viciously protecting their young and Ilko was no exception. Anytime any one of the four had to come in contact with Ilko's daughter, which was increasingly the case as she had come down ill, they left with the marks to prove it. She took off the black knit cap she was wearing to reveal what badge she'd walked away with this time. No longer did her ash blonde hair fall to her shoulders, it was sloppily cropped above her ears, littered with black singe marks.

"Brigette, did you not pull your hair back?" Taifur raised his eyebrow condescendingly.

"No I did!" she claimed in self-defense. That… _salope_ still got me," she cursed the mother dragon in her native French.

"It's not that bad. I believe that hair is… oh how do you say it, en vot? No, no, en vouge?" Brigette giggled slightly at Nicu's attempt to cheer her up. "Anyway it's still better than that time Charlie here almost broke one of the other mother's eggs," Nicu chuckled reminiscing. "You spent how long in bed?"

"Two weeks," Charlie grimaced, remembering the encounter his first year in Romania that almost cost him his left leg. It had taken him an additional month to walk correctly and he still had the slightest limp. He was confined to dealing only with the Romanian Longtails for months afterwards. It also was the first and last time he'd received a Howler from his mother while not at Hogwarts. She'd demanded that he come home before a Ministry official showed up in their fireplace with him in a casket. It really had only driven him to stay in the program instead of taking up a safer occupation elsewhere.

"You've spent your fair share of time bedridden from foolish injuries too," Taifur calmly reminded Nicu, sending a hint of red through his olive cheeks.

"Aye a danger of the trad-" he was cut off by bloodcurdling screams and a loud explosion.

"Bloody hell," Charlie jumped to his feet attempting to survey the commotion around them. He was unable to see past the bodies packed in at the back and swaggered uneasily as he attempted to sit back down.

"It's probably just a drunken row," Brigette shrugged.

"I don't think so…" Nicu noted soberly as the screams and explosions grew in intensity. "Let's leave." The other three nodded, standing up. Just then the entire length of the bar burst into flames.

"Merlin," Charlie gasped as he followed the crowd pushing towards the front doors. Different coloured sparks flashed through the thick black smoke that was quickly filling the air. Tables and chairs had been turned over and snapped into splinters in the chaotic mob. Glasses were being tossed at people and into the walls. The entire thing reminded Charlie of the bedlam after the Quidditch World Cup only a year before. Unfortunately he'd had a bit more to drink this time and it was severely interfering with his reflexes. Still, he pulled out his wand defensively. Just then a shard of glass bounced off the floor and into his arm.

"Bloody hell," he cursed, continuing to push his way to the front. He'd deal with that later. Surveying the crowd he was able to see Taifur's head in front of him in the crowd, holding the hand of who he was sure was Brigette, but Nicu was nowhere in sight. He quickly turned around to see the shadow of a hooded figure levitating Catalina, one of the Roma barmaids. Nicu stood behind him, wand raised.

"Stupefy!" he screamed over the uproar and the hooded figure stiffly fell backwards at the same time that Catalina fell unconscious to the ground. Without a second thought, Charlie quickly ran over and picked up the young girl.

"Come on," he shouted at Nicu who kicked the robed figure and followed his friend out of the flaming building.

As soon as they were outside Charlie took a deep breath of the night air to clear his lungs and set Catalina gently on the ground. Then the two men collapsed, panting on the ground outside where the bar once stood. People were running in every direction, screaming and sobbing. There was only one consistency in the chaos. Everyone seemed to be pointing to the sky, where an all too familiar image floated menacingly in the night sky, one that Charlie immediately recognized.

The Dark Mark.

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"You are truly incompetent," a dark hooded figure, seated above four trembling shapes, hissed deeply.

"Dark Lord," one finally mustered the courage to raise his voice, though it cracked with fear. "We're sorr-"

"Shut up Dunstan. I am above hearing your pathetic excuses. You had one mission tonight. To go into Vicovu de Jos and to Intuneric Drum to meet with the Transylvanian vampires. They are the only ones left that will be able to lead us to what we desperately need. Dumbledore has already sided with the Gypsies; the only thing stronger than their superstition is their loyalty. They'd die before we got a drop of information out of them. We need them on our side you blithering idiots. Instead you went, got completely inebriated and ransacked a magical pub. You fools."

"Master. The pub was a Gypsy pub and we even had reason to believe a member of the Order of the Phoenix was inside," another defiant figure attempted to speak up.

"Silence Warrington," the robed figure commanded. "Your childish hijinks have no place here. If I had wanted you to attack the pub I would have instructed you to. Gypsy or not. Also if an Order member, for whatever reason were in Romania and were inside, and, even less likely, he or she presented enough of a threat to me, I would have sent Death Eaters higher than yourselves to do my bidding. However you disobeyed my command, second-guessed me and allowed actual Order members to know where we are."

"Please forgive us Dark Lord. We'll succeed next time," Warrington pleaded shallowly.

"There will be no next time," the figure scowled raising an arm. There was a flash of green light and the sound of cackled laughter took the place of raspy breaths.

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**Notes:**

Intuneric Drum- Roughly the Romanian translation for 'Street of Darkness'


End file.
